Can the Holocaust be Taught Separate from Anti-Semitism?

You can separate a pea from the pod, but can you separate the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism?  That is the question/quandary currently facing Germany, and it is not an easy one to answer, as the excerpt below from an article by Donald Snyder shows.

Teaching about the Holocaust has not kept the old wounds of Jew hatred from reopening in Germany.  This is the reality that the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, implicitly acknowledged October 17 when it debated the state of anti-Semitism in the country following a disturbing government-commissioned report delivered to it last January. The report, written by a commission of nine academics that reviewed data from a large body of recent research, found that one-fifth of German citizens harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.

Lawmakers attending the debate, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, agreed across party lines on the need to act on the study’s recommendations.  But one of the report’s most important recommendations may prove to be among the most difficult to implement. The study calls for education about anti-Semitism in Germany to be separated from the study of the Holocaust.

Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee’s office in Berlin, is concerned about  this.

“There is a belief that if you teach young Germans about the Holocaust and the Nazi period, they won’t become anti-Semitic,” Berger said. “But this is frequently not true.” Holocaust teaching is losing its effectiveness in the fight against anti-Semitism, she said, particularly with younger Germans several generations removed from the event.

Corrie Ten Boom learned first hand about Anti-Semitism – - and the Holocaust.  Because she was not guilty of the former she literally was forced to suffer through the latter.  To learn about her story, read her book THE HIDING PLACE, or take a virtual tour of her home in Ha’arlem, Holland, which is now a museum by going to www.tenboom.com.  This represents the ending of her family’s story, however, which began with a 100 year old weekly prayer meeting that was held in their home for the purpose of praying according to Psalm 122:6 – - to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!  Today, as always, this is a verse that needs adhering to – - one that we should follow each and every day!

To read Mr. Snyder’s article in toto, and read or leave comments on the article, go to The Jewish Daily Forward website.